Bottle-closure expander.



W. C. WEIS.

BOTTLE CLOSURE EXPANDER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24. um.

Llfigfififi, Patented Dec. 7,1915.

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WILLIAM C. WEIS, F MONROE, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR T0 WEIS VAN WORMER COMPANY, OF MONROE, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

BOTTLE-CLOSURE EXPANDER.

Application filed February 24, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. VVEIs, a

citizen of the United States of America, and.

milk bottles or other similar receptacles,-

preferably those made of paper or other fibrous material, and more particularly those which have a cup shaped closure for the mouth of the bottle, whereby said devices are necessarily capable of expanding the closure immediately inside of the rim of the bottle, at the mouth thereof, in order to hermetically seal the same.

The object of my invention, generally stated, is to provide a simple and inexpena sive expander in the form of a tool which can be held and operated by one and the same hand, and which when compressed by hand will expand the closure immediately inside of the thin edge extending around the mouth of the bottle, thus securing the closure in place and tightly sealing the bottle.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features of construction and combinations tending to increase the desirability and effectiveness of a bottle closure expander of this particular character.

To the foregoing and other useful ends my invention consists in matters hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bottle closure expander embodying the principles of my invention, showing the same in normal or contracted position, and showing the head of the expander inserted in the cup-shaped closure of the bottle, the expanded or operated position of the hand tool thus provided being shown in dotted lines,'and the lateral expansion of the closure immediately inside of the edge of the bottle mouth being also indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on line 22 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the lower end portion of the said expander or tool.

As thus illustrated, my invention comprises a pair of handles A consisting of straight pieces of wood, preferably hard wood, each handle having a flat inner surface a, fiat sides :1 and a rounded outer side Specification of Letters Patent.

lPatentedDec. 7, 1915.,

Serial N 0. 10,271.

M, it being understood, however, that these handlesmay be of any suitable or desired shape. These handles are provided with curved recesses a which receive the flanges of the cup-shaped metal elements B, whereby the two handles are connected together and adapted to have relative movement about an axis extending through the centers of these two metal cups. A, rivet b connects the said cups B together, and serves to hold said cups against displacement from the curved recesses a whereby a simple and effective pivotal connection is provided between the two handles. There is slight space between the two handles when they are parallel, but they are retained normally in a spread-apart or upwardly diverging position by the spring C which is seated in cups-or sockets 0 formed in the two handles. At their lower ends said handles are provided with flat metal plates D, each plate being a little less than one-half of a circular disk in shape, so that when their two straight edges d are together the result is something less than a full circular disk; and at such time these two plates are substantially in the same horizontal plane, although tilted slightly relative to each other. \Vhen the handles are parallel these two plates D are exactly in the same plane, have some space between their straight edges d, and have their outer edges disposed on the line of a true circle, or substantially so, whereby their continued movement apart by the squeezing of the handles together will bring their outer edges beyond the line of said circle. Nails or other fastening devices (Z1 are inserted through said plates D and into said handles to hold' the plates flatwise against the end surfaces of said handles.

The paper milk bottle is provided with an annular rim or edge e at its mouth, and the closure F is in the form of a cup having a flange f which seats upon the top surface of the bottle when the closure is inserted in said mouth. Then when the said tool or expander is inserted in place, as shown in Fig.

1, and when the handles are squeezed together, the outer edges of the plates D expand the side walls of the closure F at points immediately inside or below the rim of the mouth of the bottle. This is shown in dot-- ted lines at 7, and it will be understood that this prevents withdrawal of the closure and, when the operation is properly performed,

serves to hermetically, or at least very tightly, seal the mouth of the bottle.

The expander or tool thus constructed is simple and economical to manufacture, and is also effective and eflicient in closing the bottles. It is conveniently held and operated with one hand.

What I claim as my invention is 1. An expander for securing bottle closures in place, comprising a pair of engaging members arranged in a common plane, said members in effect approximating a disk of slightly less diameter than the closure, handles to the ends of which said members are secured to move toward and away from each other, the outer edges" of said members being curved to engage the inside of the rim portion of a shallow cup-shaped closure, and a pivotal connection between said handles.

2. An expander for securing bottle closures in place, comprising a pair of engaging members arranged in a common plane, said members in effect approximating a disk of slightly less diameter than the closure, handles to the ends of which said members are secured to move toward and away from each other, the outer edges of said members being curved to engage the inside of the rim portion of a shallow cup-shaped closure, and a pivotal connection between said handles, said handles having a spring interposed to yieldingly hold their grasping portions apart, and to normally hold said members together.

3. An expander for securing bottle closures in place, comprising a pair of engaging members arranged in a common plane, handles to the ends of which said members are secured to move toward and away from each other, the outer edges of said members being curved to engage the inside of the rim portion of a shallow cup-shaped closure, and a pivotal connection between said handles, said members being in the formof plates secured by fastening devices to ends of said handles, each plate being less than one-half of a circular disk, and the relative movement being such that the outer edges of said plates are on the line of the same circle when the grasping portions of said handles are pressed toward each other.

4, An expander for securing bottle closures in place, comprising a pair of engaging members arranged in a common plane, said members in effect approximating a disk of slightly less diameter than the closure, handles to the ends of which said members are secured to move toward and away from each other, the outer edges of said members being curved. to engage the inside of the rim portion of ashallow cup-shaped closure. and a pivotal connection between said handles, said members having their outer edges on the line of the same circle when the handles are pressed toward each other at their other ends, and said edges necessarily being a substantial distance from said handles to expand the closure under the edges of the bottle.

5. An expander for securing bottle closures in place, comprising a pair of engaging members arranged in a common plane,

handles to the ends of which said members are secured to move toward and away from each other, the outer edges of said members beingcurved to engage the inside of the rim portion of a shallow cup-shaped closure, and a pivotal connection between said handles, said members being segments of a circular disk, and said handles being flat inside and rounded outside, with slight space between the two flat sides to permit relative movement of said handles about said pivot.

6. An expander for securing bottle closures in place, comprising a pair of engaging members arranged in a common plane, handles to the ends of which said members are secured to more toward and away from each other, the outer edges of said members being curved to engage the inside of the rim portion of a shallow cup-shaped closure. and a pivotal connection between said handles, said handles being of wood, said members being segmental plates disposed fiatwise upon the end surfaces of said handles, and means inserted through said plates and into said handles, said means extending lengthwise of said handles.

7. An expander for securing bottle closures in place, comprising a pair of engaging members arranged in a common plane, handles to the ends of which said members are secured to move toward and away from each other, the outer edges of said members being curved to engage the inside of the rim portion of a shallow cup-shaped closure, and a pivotal connection between said handles, said pivotal connection comprising two metal cups, and a rivet connecting said cups together, said handles having curved grooves to receive the rims of said cups.

8. An expander for securing bottle clo-' sures in place, comprising a pair of engaging members arranged in a common plane, said members in effect approximating a disk of slightly less diameter than the closure, handles to the ends of which said members are secured to move toward and away from each other, the outer edges of said members being curved to engage the inside of the rim portion of a shallow cup-shaped closure. and a pivotal connection between said handles, said members being curved at their outer edges to form a circle when said handles are moved toward each other, and said edges being slightly outside of said circle when said handles engage each other, said handles contacting at their outer ends to limit the expansion of the closure.

having their outer edges forming a distorted circle When brought together, and said edges necessarily being a substantial 15 distance from said handles to expand the closure under the edges of the bottle.

Signed by me at Monroe, Michigan, this 10th day of February 1915.

"WILLIAM C. WEIS.

Witnesses:

F. L. HAYES, ALBERT Gr. WUEST. 

